In the week in words, Erin McKean noted funambulist, a tightrope walker; tongqi, Chinese for a straight woman married to a gay man; mot-diese, France's substitution for the banned hashtag; and windowing, charging a fee to viewers who want to get early access to videos. Erin also gave us the Week in Words' also-rans for January, words that "while interesting, were not Week-worthy."

Fritinancy's weekly word choices were tannoy, "a loudspeaker or public-address system," and Godwin's Law which says, "As an online discussion becomes longer, the probability of a comparison invoking Hitler or Nazis approaches one."

Word Spy spotted hedge rage, "extreme anger or aggression exhibited by a homeowner in response to a neighbor's massive or overgrown hedge"; social swearing, "casual swearing that helps to define and bind a social group"; and cinemagraph, "a still image where an element or small area of the image has been animated."